Sunday, January 31, 2016

I never watched roller derby as a kid. It was always on before the monster movies and the most I ever saw was the very end. I'd never have thought I'd be so involved with this sport. Of course, the sport now is a lot different than it was then! This features both men and women (proving once again derby has always been co-ed) on the banked track.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

I just read a post on the league forum that started like this and it started me thinking about where one should be or even if it's needed any more:

Hellooooooo!
I am reviving this topic, because I'd like to revisit this, and possible vote this again.
Are people feeling differently about the Inside Whiteboard since the
most recent Playoffs, and more importantly - Champs on ESPN? My feeling
is we can let this go, at least for our broadcast tournaments. We know
there are leagues working without using the IWB. And large invitational
tournaments as well (Big O).

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Back again with this year's requests for things I believe would help improve the derby experience and build the fan base. There are people involved who have told me the sport is for the players which is true, but without spectators to come pay money and watch bouts, who is going to help pay for the sport you love? And you'll just be playing in front of no one, which is also called a scrimmage, no matter how official the bout is or looks.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Remember when you started derby and it was "all derby, all the time"- just couldn't get enough, practices were too far apart and there were never as many bouts as you wanted. It's so natural to feel that as well, it's like that favorite song. But if you hear it too much, you can hate it after a while. It's really important to not have that happen with your chosen sport.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Since I'm always looking for things from pop culture that are ref related, especially with superheroes, I think this qualifies! it 's one of those Silver Age stories, which are so charming that even with the overall goofiness the stories are still loads of fun. Batman went through a lot of these types of stories during this time period, which was 1960. There was a rainbow Batman, a mummy Batman and even a giant Batman. It was indicative of the time period of comic books at that time, Superman went through many of the same types of stories as well.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

I reckon I do one of these sort of posts every year, since it marks my first day of roller derby. It's been documented elsewhere about how I innocently became a fan of San Diego Roller Derby's page on FaceBook (this was before "likes" were on there) and then up popped "will train you to ref" and I sent an email to them asking what that entailed. They invited me to come down and see what it was like on this day, which was a Sunday. Or perhaps a Thursday, I don't remember which actual day it was now.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Last year when this happened I was recovering from a stomach bug that was ever so unpleasant. So this year I had what BCB had termed "the derby plague" which was some kind of upper respiratory thing. It made my voice go in and out. It's hard for anyone to hear you much less respect your authoritah when you sound like the teenage boy from the Simpsons. I did make it through the first bout as HR, but for the third and final bout I swapped positions with the FPR. Even then it was hard to make my voice heard.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Last night I voluntarily missed a scrimmage. I wasn't feeling well and decided that going out in the snow and cold might be detrimental to my health. I was slightly better than Wednesday, as I was trying to loosen my lungs from the walls of my chest, but we have a bout tomorrow and I didn't want to chance a relapse. I feel a lot better today, so I think my gambit paid off. I'd really rather not have tried to skate if I couldn't breathe properly, nor make calls if I was coughing the entire scrimmage.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Last night BCB held it's annual end of the year/start of the new year ball, which is appropriately titled the Black and Gold Ball. I was happy to be able to make it to half of the event, what with working and all. Last year I had the stomach flu and couldn't make any of it so I was glad to be at even part of it, even if they ran out of Jameson before I got there. The meatballs were quite tasty, I must say.

Friday, January 1, 2016

Yesterday I posted last years' goals and how they progressed. Today I'll lay out some personal goals to remind me that this is what I would like to accomplish in my referee life this year. I'm hoping being able to see it more often and easily will encourage me to be more focused about such things, as being BCB's HR is something I don't want to screw up.